Rail anchor



Patented Sept. 5, 1939 RAIL, ANCHOR Harold G. Warr, Park Ridge, 111.,assignor to Poor Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of DelawareApplication June 18, 1938, Serial No. 214,423

4 Claims.

This invention relates to. a new and improved rail anchor adapted togrip the base portion of a rail and abut against a side face of anadjacent cross-tie.

Rail anchors of the class to which this invention appertains areordinarily formed with one or more jaws which overlie the top surface ofa rail base at one side of a cross-tie and consequently engage the railbase at a location where there is no support for the rail directlybeneath the overlying jaw. The said overlying jaw, or jaws, of suchanchors, heretofore made, have been relatively thick at a locationdirectly above thethin marginal portions of thebase which project beyondthe side faces of the rail head. Such constructions are objectionable inthatthe jaws are ordinarily :so formed that a derailed wheel, whenrolling on the said thin marginal portion of a rail base flange willstrike the relatively thick portion of the anchor jaw which directlyoverlies the thin marginal portion of the rail base flange. Thiscondition is present regardless of whether the wheel is so derailed thatthe wheel flange is supported on the rail base flangeor whether thetread portion of the wheel is supported thereon. In either event, theimpact of the derailed wheel against the relatively thick jaw of theanchor .at a location overlying the thin edge of the rail base tends topunch the thick portion of the anchor jaw through the rail base flange.The same damage results to the rail when the thick upper jaw of theanchor is struck at any location, for example, at some point beyond theouter edge of the rail base flange, since the downward movement of saidjaw, under the force of the impact, carries the relatively thickunyielding portion of the jaw through the thin edge portion of the railbase.

A principal object of this invention is to provide new and improved railanchor constructions which will overcome the objection above referredto.

Another object is to provide a rail anchor in which the jaw portionoverlying the rail base flange is so formed as to provide the necessarystrength and rigidity for effecting a highly efiicient grip on the railbase, but which, when struck by a derailed wheel, will be dislodged fromthe rail and/ or minimize the punching or shearing stresses on the railflange when the anchor is struck by a derailed wheel.

Another and more specific object is to provide a rail anchorconstruction which makes it practicable to reduce the vertical thicknessof the anchor jaw directlyabove the thin edge portion of the rail baseflange without sacrificing the strength and rigidity in the jaw which isnecessary to produce the desired gripping action thereof on the rail andat the same time provide a jaw construction of sufiicient height andresilience that it will be readily dislodged from the base portion of arail by the impact of a derailed wheel when the wheel strikes the anchorjaw at any location beyond the outer edge of the rail base flange.

According to the present invention, the rail anchor jaw or jaws, as thecase may be, which overlie the top surface of the rail base, are of hookconfiguration and are otherwise so formed as to confine their engagementwith the rail base at a location near the edge .of the base flange. Thethickness of the jaw gradually decreases toward the end, whereby therelatively thin end only of the said jaw overlies the rail base flange.The increasing thickness of the jaw toward the bend of the hook providesthe required strength to resist any tendency which the upperand lowerjaws may have to spread apart when they are subjected to increasedtension, forexample, when the body of the anchor is pressed against theside face of the cross-tie during the presence ofcreeping pressure onthe rail. The said increasing thickness of the jaw also elevates theouter end of the jaw relative to the rail engaging end thereof so thatthe outer and higherendof the jaw will be more likely to receive theimpact of a derailed wheel than the thinner inner end portion thereof.The impact of a derailed wheel against any portion of the anchor jaw ata location beyond the edge of the 35 rail base will readily distort thethin end portion of the jaw overlying the rail base and therebydislodge" the anchor from the rail.

When an anchor jaw is formed in accordance with this invention, aderailed wheel can strike 40 the thin inner portion of the jaw only inthe event that the wheel is so derailed that the flange thereof issupported on the base flange of the rail. Such condition, however, wouldbe rather infrequent since the edge of a rail base 45 flange onlyprojects from one to one and onehalf inches beyond the side face of therail head. Consequently the greater proportion of damage is caused bywheels striking the outer end portion of the anchor jaw and therebyforcing the 5 heavy portion of the jaw overlying the rail base throughthe thin edge portion of the base. In the event, however, that a wheelflange of a derailed wheel should be so supported on the flange of therail as to strike the thin inner edge of the 5 drawings:

anchor jaw of the present invention, the reduced thickness of the jawwill correspondingly minimize the punching and shearing stresses imposedon the rail flange.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thedetailed description of the two embodiments of the invention shown inthe accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a plan view of the baseportion of a railroad rail showing a rail anchor constructed inaccordance with this invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view through a-railroad rail showing theanchor device in side elevaj tion and illustrating themanner in which aderailed wheel will ordinarily contact the outer thicker portion of therail engaging jawof the anchor.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but illustrating the jaw end of theanchor applied to the outer base flange of the rail and shows a wheelderailed and supported on the said outer flange of the rail.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of a slight] modified rail anchorconstruction.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive of the [8 designates arailroad rail, H a. cross-tie, 12 a metal tie plate interposed betweenthe top face of the cross-tie and the base portion of the rail, and I3designates a rail anchor made in accordance with this invention appliedto the rail in a position to abut against a vertical face of thecross-tie H,

The anchor device 13, as shown herein, is made from a steel bar, one endof which is bent'into hook form to provide an upper jaw l4 and a lowerjaw I5 adapted to be driven transversely of the rail into resilientgripping engagement with the top and bottom surface of one base flangeof the rail. The other end of the bar extends across beneath the railbase and is provided with a locking shoulder l6 which engages thevertical edge of the other base flange of the rail. The under-rail bodyportion of the anchor abuts against a side face of the cross-tie H. Itis preferably bowed downwardly, as indicated at 11, so as to engage theside face of the cross-tie at a suitable distance below the upper edgethereof. The upper jaw l4 bears upon the top surface of the rail-baseflange at a location spaced inwardly from the bearing of the lower-jawat the edge [8 of the rail base flange, there being preferably aclearance between the said upper jaw l4 and the upper corner portion ofthe rail base flange engaged. With this arrangement of the jaws, theresilient pressure developed by driving the jaws to their appliedposition efiects a turning movement of the anchor about the bearing 18of the lower jaw and thereby holds the shoulder end is of the anchor inits locking position. The bend IQ of the hook is spaced a substantialdistance outwardly from the rail base so that the upper jaw may beformed of suitable length to permit the desired resilient flexing of thejaw and at the same time confine the bearing of the jaw on the rail to alocation near the edge of the base flange.

A shoulder 20, formed by offsetting the lower jaw vertically, abutsagainst the edge of the rail base and serves as a positive stop to limitthe applying movement of the anchor and thereby insures the properpositioning of the upper jaw near the edge of the base flange of therail.

The hook portion of the anchor is formed to effect a relatively uniformdistribution of the flexing which normally occurs in the bend l9 and theupper jaw and at the same time provide an improved construction whichwill prevent notching or other damage to the rail flange when the jawend of the anchor is struck by a derailed wheel and which will alsofunction to increase the grip of the anchor jaws on the rail base flangewhen certain forces are encountered in service.

- ;With these purposes in view the metal at the bend l9 is relativelythick so as to prevent the flexing, incident to the vertical tension onthe jaw 14, from being localized at the bend. The upper jaw is'flattened and widened so as to gradually decrease in vertical thicknessand increase in width toward the rail engaging end thereof so that theresistance to flexing of the jaw gradually increases toward the outerend thereof. The height of the bend l9 and the tapered verticalthickness of the jaw M are such that the thicker outer end of the jaw l4extends above the plane of that portion of the thinned inner end of thejaw which overlies the thin marginal portion of the rail base flange.The higher and thicker outer end of the said jaw M will, thereforenormally receive the impact of a derailed wheel. Such impact will alwaysbe received by the outer end of the jaw when the anchor jaw engages theinner flange of the rail in the manner illustrated in Fig. 2. As aresult of such impact, the thin end of the jaw overlying the thinmarginal portion of the rail base will bend downwardly and permitdislodgement of the anchor without damage to the rail base.

When the anchor jaw is applied to the outer flange of the rail and awheel is so derailed that the flange of the wheel is supported on themarginal portion of the rail flange, as indicated in Fig. 3, so as topass over that portion of the anchor jaw overlying the rail base flange,the punching or shearing stresses on the rail flange will be minimixedby the fact that the wheel flange, under such circumstances, will strikethe relatively thin end portion of the jaw. The likelihood of damage tothe rail base flange in such case is further minimized by the fact thatthe widened end portion of the jaw, which receives such impact, servesto distribute the thrust of the impact over a large area of the railbase flange.

The said widened end portion of the jaw 14, in addition to its functionof distributing the said impact force over a large area of the rail baseflange, makes it practical to form the anchor from relatively lighterbars and at the same time obtain jaw bearing surfaces 21-22 of greaterwidth than the normal width of the bar.

It will be seen, by inspection of Figs. 1 and 4, that the depth orvertical dimensions of the bar is greater than the horizontal thicknessand that the widened end of the upper jaw projects beyond the plane ofthe opposite sides of the lower jaw Hi. The efiective width of the upperand lower jaws for exerting a shackle grip on the rail when the anchorbody is pressed against the cross-tie, is defined by the vertical planeof one side of the lower jaw and the edge of the widened upper jaw whichprojects beyond the vertical plane of the other side of the lower jaw.With such construction, any size of bar stock may be used which providesthe anchor body with suitable tie bearing area and provides the desiredthickness of jaws to prevent spreading thereof when the jaws aresubjected to increased tension during the above mentioned shacklegripping action.

A further function of the widened upper jaw isto increase the grip ofthe upper and lower jaws on the rail base flange when the anchor issubjected to a turning movement about a vertical axis passing throughthe rail abutment surface of the shoulder 20. In such case, for examplewhen a cross-tie is so displaced in the roadbed that the pressure of theanchor against the tie tends to rotate the jaws about the vertical axisA, an edge of the widened jaw is forced upwardly on the inclined surfaceof the rail base flange and thereby increases the grip of the jaw on therail.

Referring now to the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. Thisembodiment ismade from a somewhat heavier bar than shown in connectionwith Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, and the rail engaging end of the upper jawis the same horizontal width as the lower jaw. In. all other respectsthe modified anchor may be and preferably is the same in construction asshown in Figs. 1 to 4. The corresponding parts of the modified deviceare, therefore, designated by the same reference numeral as the previousembodiment with the addition of the exponent a.

The operation of the anchors may be briefly summarized as follows:Either embodiment shown herein may be applied to a rail by driving thehook end thereof onto the base flange of the rail until the shoulder l6snaps up over the opposite edge of the rail base. At that time theshoulder 2!] will abut against the rail base and thereby function toprevent overdriving of the anchor so that only the thin inner end of theupper jaw will overlie the thin marginal portion of the rail baseflange. The outer thicker end of the upper jaw will normally receive theimpact of a derailed wheel moving along the side of the rail. Thethinner inner end of the jaw will bend or break under the force of suchimpact and permit dislodgement of the anchor. In the event that a wheelis so derailed that the flange of the wheel strikes the portion of theupper jaw which overlies the rail base, the thin portion of the jawminimizes the punching or shearing stresses imposed on the rail flange.When the upper jaw is both flattened and widened toward its railengaging end the increased width applies the force of the impact over alarger area of the rail base and thereby further minimizes the effect ofthe impact on the jaw. The widened upper jaw also cooperates with theabutment shoulder 26 to increase the grip of the anchor on the rail whenthe anchor is turned about a vertical axis passing through the railabutment surface of the stop shoulder 29.

I claim:

1. A rail anchor for application to its applied position on a rail bybodily movement of the anchor transversely of the rail, comprising anunder-rail body portion for abutting against a side face of a cross-tieand bent at one end into hook form to provide upper and lower jaws forgripping the top and bottom surfaces, respectively, of one base flangeof a rail at a location near the edge of the flange, a rail abuttingshoulder for limiting said applying movement, and means at the other endof the body for engaging the other flange of the rail base; the saidupper jaw being tapered downwardly and inwardly so as to graduallydecrease in thickness from the said bend toward the rail engaging end ofthe jaw and the major portion including the bend of the hook beingspaced outwardly from the rail abutting shoulder so as to provide arelatively long and flexible jaw the thin inner end only of whichoverlies and bears on the thin marginal portion of the rail base and thetop surface of the thicker outer end being spaced considerably abovesaid thin inner end whereby an impact of a derailed wheel on the thickerouter end of the upper jaw will readily distort the thin inner endthereof and thereby dislodge the anchor from the rail.

2. A rail anchor comprising a bar bent at one end into hook form toprovide upper and lower jaws for gripping the top and bottom surfaces,respectively, of a rail base flange at a location near the longitudinaledge of the flange, an under-rail body portion for abutting against aside face of a cross-tie on which the rail is supported, and means forengaging both vertical edges of the rail base for maintaining the anchorin its applied position including a rail abutting shoulder at the hookend of the anchor; the said upper jaw being tapered downwardly andinwardly so as to gradually decrease its vertical thickness from thesaid bend toward the rail engaging end of the jaw and the major portionincluding the bend of said hook being spaced outwardly from the saidrail abutting shoulder so that the thin inner end portion only of thejaw overlies that portion of the base flange which extends beyond theside face of the rail head and the top surface of the thicker outer endbeing spaced considerably above said thin inner end whereby the punchingeffect on the rail base is minimized when the thin inner end of the jawis struck by a derailed wheel and whereby an impact of a derailed wheelon the thicker outer end of the upper jaw will readily distort the thininner end thereof and dislodge the anchor from the rail.

3. A rail anchor for application to a. rail having base flanges whichextend beyond the side planes of the rail head, comprising a barflattened at one end so as to gradually decrease in thickness toward theextremity and bent adjacent said flattened portion into hook form toprovide upper and lower jaws for gripping the top and bottom surfaces,respectively, of one base flange at a location near the edge of theflange, an underrail body portion for abutting against a side face of across-tie, and stop means on the anchor adapted to limit the applyingmovement thereof and the major portion of the hook being spacedoutwardly from said stop whereby the thin inner end only of the upperjaw overlies the thin marginal portion of the rail base which extendsbeyond the side face of the rail head the said jaws being spaced apartat the bend a distance substantially greater than the thickness of theedge portion of the rail base so that the upper surface of the thickerouter end of the hook is spaced considerably above the thin inner end,whereby this higher portion only of the jaw can be struck by the treadportion of a derailed wheel.

4. A rail anchor for application to a rail having base flanges whichextend beyond the side planes of the rail head, comprising a barflattened at one end so as to gradually decrease in thickness toward theextremity and bent adjacent said flattened portion into hook form toprovide upper and lower jaws, for gripping the top and bottom surfaces,respectively, of one base flange at a location near the edge of theflange in substantially the same vertical plane, an under-rail bodymarginal portion of the rail base, and. the top surface of the thickerend of the hook is spaced considerably above the short flexible portionwhich overlies the rail base so that this thick portion only of the hookcan be struck by the 5 tread of a derailed wheel.

HAROLD G. WARR.

